Traffic Safety Team

Traffic safety has historically been one of the most significant issues identified in citizen surveys. The Traffic Safety Team (TST) was formed in the late 1980s to help address these concerns, making our roadways safer for all.

The TST strives to provide a high level of motor vehicle law enforcement combined with educational initiatives and accurate crash scene investigations to enhance the Town’s quality of transportation. The team maintains close working relationships with other Town departments, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and the Governor’s Highway Safety Program.

Traffic Safety Team members are responsible for the investigation of major crashes, traffic complaints, traffic enforcement, safety programs and training. Eleven officers (four of whom are motorcycle officers), a lieutenant and a sergeant are assigned to the team. Officers analyze crash data and respond to citizen complaints to identify hazardous locations and focus on enforcing violations that contribute to crashes. Uniformed patrol officers also assist in enforcing violations of traffic laws throughout town.

Traffic Safety Team members have three additional enforcement priorities:

A mobile traffic radar trailer is used to increase motorist awareness of speeding and helps promote voluntary compliance with speed limits. A traffic monitoring system is used to identify complaint areas according to traffic volume, day of the week, time of the day and speed of vehicles. The data allows the unit to deploy their resources accordingly. Officers also conduct checkpoints for DWI and seat belt/child safety seat violations. Each traffic vehicle has a RADAR unit, time/distance computer, MDC and portable breath-testing device.

Other responsibilities include investigation of violations reported by school bus drivers, speed enforcement, and traffic direction/control at special events. You can report unsafe driving conditions in non-emergency conditions to our Traffic Safety Team via the Town's Road Watch Hotline at (919) 319-4521. Traffic Safety Team members make presentations and prepare traffic safety displays for groups of all ages. Additionally, Traffic Safety Team officers who are qualified BikeSafe Assessors routinely host free motorcycle safety presentations that include a personal assessment of your riding skills as part of the BikeSafeNC program. Lt. Tom Stewart, (919) 469-4338 and Sgt. Kevin Powell, (919) 380-4208 supervise the Traffic Safety Team.